Description of the flag

Suffolk County's flag (yellow seal on blue) can be seen on a photo at www.libba.com.Dov Gutterman, 17 December 2002

The seal's interior has a "figure of an ox" (and not a bull, contrary to popular belief) with the slogan "FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE" on the bottom. The ring says "SUFFOLK COUNTY SEAL" on the top and "NEW YORK" on the bottom and is surrounded by a garland. I know of two versions of the flag. The one I'm familiar with when I was a kid had the seal's design in yellow on a navy blue field similar to the navy blue used for New York State's own flag. The second (which I believe is now the current version) has the seal design in navy blue on a yellow disk, which in turn is on a sky blue field. I am also aware of a variant used by the Police Department which is like the first version of the flag, except that the ring says "POLICE DEPARTMENT" at the top and "SUFFOLK COUNTY NEW YORK" on the bottom.

I am also aware of a seal used by the Suffolk County Legislature that depicts a plow in its interior. I am not aware of it being used on any flag, however.

Peter W. Guerin, 22 February 2004

Mr. Guerin is correct, the blue of the field on the Suffolk Co. flag is lighter than that of the New York State flag. However, I wouldn't describe it as sky-blue; it seems more of a medium blue to me. An image of the county flag is
at www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Forest/8608/m_haley.jpg. Note the fortuitous happenstance which placed the US flag's canton right next to the county flag in the picture- making possible a direct comparison of the two shades of blue.

Although it may not seem apparent in the linked image, Mr. Guerin is also correct that the blue in the county seal's lines and shading is darker than the field. Again however, it is not quite as dark as the blue of the New York State flag. I'm not certain if the difference between the blue shade used in the seal and the blue used for the field of the county flag is intentional, or is just an artefact of the manufacturing process. The difference, while obvious when examined close-up, is not very great.

Ned Smith, 8 March 2004

County Seal

Suffolk County Historical Society

The Suffolk County Historical Society (New York State, US) has a blue flag with a gold-bordered white oval, and within the oval is a gold weathervane in the shape of an angel blowing a trumpet (also has some gold lettering).Ned Smith, 18 August 2002

Suffolk County Police Department

The flag is the seal on a blue background. An image of it behind some figures can be seen here.Nathan Lamm, 28 July 2004